No more Yahoo Answers (ok maybe a little more)

No seriously though. I am going to be cutting back the time I spend on yahoo answers helping others answer their baseball questions but not because I don’t like helping. I’m stopping because I’ve set up my own forum for everyone to use! It’s brand new and I’m still setting up the categories, but I would love for anyone who has a baseball question to drop in and check it out. There is an introduction section where you can introduce yourself to our new community, and then there are a bunch of other little categories I threw out there just to get it jump started. Feel free to start your own discussion or category and I promise I will do my best to answer any and all questions you may have regarding baseball. Thanks. Here’s the link to the new Baseball Discussion Forum

More Yahoo Best Answers

So I’ve been working hard at answering questions on yahoo and I’m up to 32% Best Answer out of 158 answers. Not too bad. The only thing is, I want to answer these questions on my website and blog. So what I did was start a forum. So besides trying to get that going, I’ve still been answering those questions on yahoo. Here is one of the best ones that I think really helped.

Lefty Grove asked:
“When your pitching in a game do you aim at anything?
Like do you just aim anywhere at the catcher or is there a certain spot on the catcher that you like to aim too?”

My answer to Lefty Grove:
“You definitely need to aim at the glove for the fastball (2 seam and 4 seam or any other variations of it). Fastball control is a necessity to become a good pitcher. I actually used to put a little sticker on my catcher’s glove so that I was not only throwing to his mitt, but to a spot in it. That helped me because I was more focused in on where I wanted to throw the baseball and if I missed it may be less of a miss than if I was just aiming at the glove.

You can visit this site for more information on pitching tips.

As for the off speed pitches, I was once told by a great pitching coach that you have to adjust your sights. I don’t like to say you are aiming at a different spot but your sights are set different. How I would do this is look where I wanted to throw the off speed pitches (curveball, slider, split, etc..) and then set my sights to where it would feel like I’m throwing that pitch. It may feel like you are throwing the baseball at the batter, but in reality you are just dropping it in there for a perfect strike. I hope this helps!

Focus on fastball control down in the zone before you work on in and out. Fastball command can take you far in the game of baseball.”

Motivation

Lately (the past 2 years or so) I have been very motivated. It’s almost a bad thing now. I have trouble sleeping and all I want to do is go! Don’t get me wrong, I get in my slumps every now and then where I feel like I am worthless, but overall the last 2 years I have been focused and motivated. And it’s amazing how much you can get done when you set your mind to something.

A lot of my motivation comes from books, blogs, and even those old inspirational tapes. Yeh, you know the ones! The Tony Robbins tapes, and other guys like that. I say tapes because my car only has a tape player. HAHA. Although I love those things, probably the most motivating things to me is what my father sends to me.

Every once in a while I will get an e-mail from him or he’ll send a magazine article my way, and every time it is something new, fresh, and very motivational/inspirational. I thought that I would put some of those things up in my blog to share with all of you because I know that I love to see and read these things, and I thought you might to. So here is the first (of many) motivational/inspirational blogs.

Here are just a few videos that my father has emailed me in the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Al Pacino – Any Given Sunday – That just makes me want to go play some football! Too bad I stink at it!

Rocky Balboa – aka Rocky 6 – Life Lesson – As a matter of fact I’m watching Rocky 2 right now as I’m writing this blog. Last night I watched Rocky 4, 5, and 1 all in a row. Now call me cheesy, but nobody has a repitior of corny knock knock jokes like me! (Besides Rocky)

I’ve got a bunch of other ones, I just have to go through my inbox and find them. I’ll put another post up next week like this one. Hope you guys enjoyed this! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

You Go Pro Baseball

My first week on Yahoo Answers

As everybody knows, or at least everybody who has been to my site YouGoProBaseball.com, I have been trying to get it up and running. I recently signed up to yahoo answers for a couple of reasons. One was to promote the site. Although they don’t like that there at yahoo, I was really trying to help answer these baseball questions to the best of my ability. Therefore I didn’t feel too bad about throwing a link to my website on there every now and again. Another reason I signed up was to learn what kind of questions that people had about baseball, drills, and getting better. There was a lot of great questions that were being asked that I think a lot of people would like to know the answers to or at least wonder about sometimes. Therefore I decided I was going to answer some of the best questions in my blog. Hopefully this can be a regular thing and we can all learn from each other. Without further ado, let me present some of the questions (and answers) of my first week on yahoo answers.

I’m only going to go over the questions that I was given the title of “best answer” so I don’t bore you with all 62 answers I attempted this week.

Question 1
This one comes from a kid with the tag name Rob The Slugger who was concerned about playing first base for his high school team:
“I just started playing baseball two years ago and I’m pretty good and I want to play first baseman like my favorite player Mark Teixeira. I don’t know if my coach will play me there. Kids often make fun of me because I played minor league in 7th grade. I can catch which is all a first baseman needs to do. What should I do so I can be able to play first base? Should I just play high school baseball or play Babe Ruth league as well? Will it be to time consuming?” – Rob The Slugger at Yahoo Answers

Here was my answer to Rob:
Congratulations on joining the best sport in the world. I’m glad that you are taking such an interest to the game. Baseball changed my life and I hope it impacts you in the same way! As far as your coach not playing you at first base, that may be something that you can control. If you go out and work everyday and try to get better, focus on catching EVERY ball thrown to you, and have a good attitude through even the rough times, then you will increase your chances at being a starter. Not only that, but most first basemen are known for their hitting. You should practice your hitting just as much as you do your first base. Coaches will love you if you are able to drive in runs, especially in clutch situations. Focus on seeing the baseball and making contact.

Here is a link to my website that may help you with both first base and hitting.
First Base
Hitting

Work hard and stay focused. Good things happen to good people and you can do anything you put your mind too!!!!! GOOD LUCK!

Question 2
This question comes from Baseballer25 who was what he could do to prepare for his upcoming season as an outfielder:
“ive always been a baseball fan and loved baseball but ive nvr actually played for a team since im in high school now ill be able to make practice everyday since im already going to be at skool but the hard part will be making the team im a pretty good hitter ive been goin to the batting cages every night for the past two months i can hit the very fast ball consistantly about 11 out of 16 was the most i got i usually get around 9 soo im not really worried about hitting but im worried about fielding how do i beat out the other fielders im really fast(idk if thats a bonus) but what work outs can i do to help my fielding” – Baseballer25 at Yahoo Answers
Here was my answer to Baseballer25:
To be a good defensive outfielder you have to master the fundamentals. Know where you are throwing the baseball before the play happens. Know what hitters are up to play a shift if necessary. Hit all your cut offs. And keep the baseball in front of you no matter what.

Speed is definitely a good thing for an outfielder to have. Most scouts draft outfielders because they are fast. An outfielder should run a 60 yard dash in 6.5 – 7.0 seconds. I think 6.7 is the average of major league outfielders but if you can break 7 in high school you are doing ok.

The other part of being an outfielder is hitting. You said you’ve got that down but it never hurts to practice your strengths as well as your weaknesses.
Hitting
Outfield

Question 3
This will be the last one I do this week for the blog. I had 7 best answers but what I think I’m going to do each week for the blog is pick only 2 or 3 of the best answers I have. Therefore you guys are only seeing the best of the best answers. I don’t want to waste anyones time with babble.
This last question comes from Kev and he asked:
“Why does a hitter go into a slump?” – Kev at Yahoo Answers

Here was my answer to Kev. Looking back on it, I probably should have left out the part about the slump buster because I don’t know how old this kid is. Ooops. Here’s the answer:
That’s a great question and I’m sure there are many reasons. I think the main reason however, is that hitters will let one bad at bat lead to another and another. It’s mostly mental. It doesn’t even have to start with a bad at bat. It can start with something happening at home or at school.

The slump is a result of letting each previous situation effect the next one. And it keeps going and going until you can break the slump.

There is a great article on my website that talks about hitting and how not to let the previous at bat effect you because that’s how slumps start. Here’s a link to the article Previous At Bat. Professional baseball players are professionals, not only because they are superior than others at the game, but because they minimize the times that they are in slumps.

One superstition that some baseball players believe in to get out of a slump is to get a slump buster. A slump buster is usually the name for an overweight or not so attractive girl.

Well That’s It!
That is all I have for the blog today. I hope you enjoyed this article. I plan on doing something like this once a week, so don’t forget to check back often.

YouGoProBaseball.com

Advice From Jason Grilli

Hey guys, what’s up?

This morning I want to tell you something I learned yesterday from Major League Pitcher Jason Grilli.  Jason works out at the same facility as I do, so I get a chance to pick his brain sometimes.  Yesterday was a good day because while I was throwing my bullpen I asked him which side of the rubber he thought was best for me to throw off.   Not only did he answer my question but he explained to me another problem that he saw that I never noticed before.  I only write to tell you guys this so we can learn together.  You can learn from things that I find helpful and hopefully I will learn (along with the other readers out there) from things you guys  respond with.

The first thing Jason mentioned when I asked him about where to stand on the rubber was where he likes to stand.  He is a right handed pitcher and stands on the far right side of the rubber.  He likes the angle he gets at right handed batters.  He suggested that I do the same, just not so far right on the rubber because I am more side arm than he is.  This was a good thing to hear because this is where I have been throwing from for the last 4 years.  At the same time I don’t necessarily agree with it.  So why do I throw from that side if I don’t agree with it?  Well, it has worked for the most part.  But sometimes I find myself trying new things to see if they may work better.  That is where I stand now and why I even asked Jason in the first place.

One of my friends I used to play with once had an argument with one of our pitching coaches who also suggested we all (righties) throw from the right side of the mound.  Stevie Delabar drew a diagram on a cocktail napkin explaing why it was better to throw from the left side of the rubber, especially for a side armer like myself.  I didn’t change my position just then, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.  Stevie suggested that if you are on the left side of the rubber it is easier to throw outside to a rightie because you are not throwing across your body.  Also throwing in to a rightie is better because the baseball is moving toward them more.  Especially being a side armer and tending to miss arm side when I do miss, throwing down the middle and letting the baseball do the work for me is a good way to pitch.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe every pitcher is different.  I still love throwing from the right side of the rubber.  It is what feels comfortable for me, I have been successful before with it, and I understand the benefits of it.  On the other hand, I am going to try throwing to a few batters from the left side just to see how it works.  You don’t know until you try it right?  Again, I think every pitcher is different.  Throwing from the right works great for Jason because he has a hard fastball, nasty slider, and deceptive change up.  With his fastball and slider breaking the way it does, he can use those angles to get more depth on his pitches.  Which every pitcher would love to do.  Obviously he is doing the right thing, he has been in the big leagues for 5+ years.

One thing Jason said that I never noticed before and made a lot of sense was where my foot was on the rubber.  When I looked down at my right foot, I was shocked.  Only the front part of my foot was up against the rubber.  Instead of having the entire side of my foot flush up against the rubber, I only had the front part, making my line to home plate crooked.  It was almost like I was throwing towards the batter.  This only meant that I had to throw across my body to get the baseball where I wanted it to be.  I tried it a couple of times and it felt awkward but it makes sense and I’m gonna keep working at it for the next few bull pens to see if it makes a significant difference. 

It is the small things like that, that can make the big differences in our game.  Don’t be affraid to ask questions (to me or anyone with experience) because you can learn a lot.  All I asked Jason the other day is where he thought I should stand on the mound and I learned so much more.  Not only did it get me thinking about where I thought I should be, but it made me realize other little things I could do to become a better pitcher. 

So ask me some questions guys!!

You Go Pro Baseball